The Law Comes To Texas: The Texas Rangers, 1870-1901

Frederick Wilkins ends his saga of the Texas Rangers with this history of one of the most fascinating periods in their history--the three decades prior to the turn of the century when the famous Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers wound up its mission of combating Indians and began to concentrate on chasing the outlaws rampant during the last days of frontier Texas. The era of Sam Bass, John Wesley Hardin, King Fisher and the Sutton-Taylor Feud provides the framework for the activities of legendary Rangers such as Lee Hall, John Hughes, Bill McDonald, N. O. Reynolds, Dan Roberts, Bass Outlaw and Lee McNelly, and for other Rangers such as John Armstrong, G. W. Arrington and George Baylor who should be better known for their contributions to the legends. This is the era during which, in Wilkins' words, "The 'Wild West' gave a certain legendary twist not just to Texan lore but to all of American history." It is also the era of transition in which the Rangers began to use the railroad as much as they did their horses and when the telegraph and telephone began to aid the Rangers' law-keeping efforts.